1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a die carrier package. More particularly, the present invention relates to a radiation shielding die carrier package that protects a semiconductor die disposed therein from radiation contacting the die carrier package from any direction.
2. The Background Art
In the extreme environments where semiconductors may be used, it is imperative to shield the semiconductor die from radiation to ensure the reliability of the integrated circuits implemented in the semiconductor die.
Typically, an integrated circuit die is disposed in a plastic or ceramic package that provides little protection for the semiconductor die from radiation. Shielding that is applied to or incorporated into a plastic or ceramic package to protect the semiconductor die from x-ray or other types of electromagnetic radiation is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. There are problems, however, with the known shielding techniques employed to protect a semiconductor die disposed in a plastic or ceramic package from radiation. These problems include shielding that fails in difficult environments, shielding that does not protect the semiconductor die from every direction, and shielding that is either to cumbersome or expensive to include in the package.
Examples of prior art devices with these problems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,635,754, along with descriptions of numerous embodiments of packages designed to provide radiation shielding. Though numerous packages are described which include various amounts of shielding, none of the packages described will prevent radiation from all directions from entering the cavity in the package in which the semiconductor device is disposed. Each of the packages described includes either an insulating feedthrough for external leads or a plastic portion that will allow radiation into the package that is not otherwise blocked by additional shielding.
Programmable logic devices (PLD) are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. A PLD typically includes uncommitted groups of digital logic, which may be programmed to form higher digital logic functions, and uncommitted routing channels, which may be programmed to connect together the programmed digital logic. An example of a PLD is a field programmable gate array (FPGA). PLDs are often employed in applications where the implementation of an integrated circuit in a semiconductor die using mask programmed techniques is prohibitively expensive because the number of semiconductor dies produced is quite small. Some of the applications PLDs include use in military and aerospace hardware.